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Description
Vulpavus ('Fox grandfather') was close to the origin of modern carnivorans. It lived in North America from about 50 to 46 million years ago. Many of those ancient carnivore-types lived in the forests at that time, mostly with the same kind of build - fairly small, long-bodied, short-limbed, with long tails. They must have looked a bit like genets or martens of today, and likely lived in a similar manner, preying on small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and perhaps some invertebrates. Vulpavus reached a length of about 90 cm and a weight of about 1.2 kg. From something quite like it, modern carnivorans evolved to replace the more 'primitive' hyaenodonts and oxyaenodonts, and today their progeny includes cats, dogs, bears, raccoons, mongooses, hyenas, otters, skunks, badgers, weasels, and even seals and walruses!

Description
Vulpavus ('Fox grandfather') was close to the origin of modern carnivorans. It lived in North America from about 50 to 46 million years ago. Many of those ancient carnivore-types lived in the forests at that time, mostly with the same kind of build - fairly small, long-bodied, short-limbed, with long tails. They must have looked a bit like genets or martens of today, and likely lived in a similar manner, preying on small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and perhaps some invertebrates. Vulpavus reached a length of about 90 cm and a weight of about 1.2 kg. From something quite like it, modern carnivorans evolved to replace the more 'primitive' hyaenodonts and oxyaenodonts, and today their progeny includes cats, dogs, bears, raccoons, mongooses, hyenas, otters, skunks, badgers, weasels, and even seals and walruses!